About

$44,772

pledged of $40,000 goal

1,412

backers

DRACULAGATE is an all new 130-page graphic novel about a bumbling team of U.S. diplomats opening up international relations with Transylvania, sovereign nation of monsters and undead. It's like HBO's VEEP, but with skeletons and ghosts and stuff.

When Dracula's nephew kills a Canadian TV star, it sparks an international incident that may lead to war between Canada and the isolationist land of monsters. The United States attempts to broker peace, but the State Department is greatly lacking in staff and expertise. They're the first Americans in decades to cross into monster civilization, and they are going to do very, very poorly. Again, please feel free to Read a preview!

The book itself is a 5" x 7.5" softcover with 130 full color comic pages.

We met through the Magnet Theater in New York City, where we both perform, write and direct live comedy. We worked together in that capacity a few times before we said "Hey, we both make comics. We should do that together." We then quickly decided that "something" should have Dracula in it.

Without telling people on Twitter about it even once, (okay ONCE) we met nearly every day for four months to write the script for DRACULAGATE. And now we're ready to draw it and print it, with a little help from you.

We're keeping the backer rewards fairly streamlined for this Kickstarter. All we want is to make this book and cover expenses, so we're not opening up an entire bazaar of add-ons. But we do have a couple.

At $10 or more, you get a DRM-free PDF of DRACULAGATE. If you prefer to read on a computer or tablet, and you want to save a little money, this is the one for you. $25 will get you a physical copy of the book (plus the PDF), and cover U.S. shipping. International shipping is extra.

$35 gets the book and the PDF, AND you get sketches and signatures from BOTH AUTHORS.

At $50, along with the signed book and the PDF, you get a DRACULAGATE challenge coin, which is 100% legal tender in 0% of the countries in the real world.

For $150, you will be drawn into DRACULAGATE as a human or monster. If you are Henry Rollins, your cameo character will look like the above illustration. If you are not Henry Rollins, this example will still give you an idea of what to expect. There will be a glossary of cameo backers, so you when your grandma gets her copy, she knows which page to find you on. You also get a signed copy of the book, the PDF, and the challenge coin.

Shipping will be handled by Make That Thing!, crowdfunding and fulfillment experts. They have a warehouse, pallet jacks, tape guns, and plenty of holy water and garlic on hand. They have this under control.

Risks and challenges

Creating a graphic novel from scratch is a long and sometimes difficult process. The comic itself is not fully drawn, and this fundraising campaign is partially to help support Branson and Chris as we go into the months long process of creating the art for the book. Progress could be delayed or halted entirely by death, disability, laziness or other unforeseen issues that could stop someone from drawing a book. However, we've already met on a nearly daily basis for four months to write the script, and we weren't paid at all for that time. Hastings self published the Dr. McNinja series for years before TopatoCo and then Dark Horse came along. Reese drew a comic a day, every single day through 2017. Both of us have a record of commitment to churning out hundreds and hundreds of comic pages. What's a few more for this book?

The printing and shipping of the book will be handled by Make That Thing!, who are Kickstarter fulfillment experts. They've shipped thousands and thousands of packages for dozens of Kickstarter campaigns, and they know what they're doing!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

YOU ARE IN THE BOOK

Get a cameo drawn into the book! We will make you into a human or monster person somewhere in the pages of DRACULAGATE, as well as list your name in a glossary of cameo appearances, so you know where to find yourself.